Archive for September 2016

Recent Going-ons

Hello friends!

The fall season is well underway at LWBC. We have had the pleasure of serving a number of wonderful retreat groups, hosting the Movie by the Lake event with the McFarland Chamber of Commerce, and adding a new member to our full time staff team! Crystal Smith has been a dedicated servant to the ministry over the past few years as a counselor and chapel coordinator, and we are very excited to have her join us here. With the Fall equinox being yesterday, I thought it appropriate to reflect upon the summer which passed us by so quickly.

Summer Thoughts

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

–John 15:16 NIV

As you may know, Ron was able to take some time for a sabbatical during the summer season. God was faithful in allowing our summer ministry to flourish even though He had given the camp director a period of rest. We flourished because God had chosen an incredible group of young men and women to serve at LWBC this summer. We pray diligently for summer staff members, and God absolutely provided for our needs. Any roles left unfilled early in the spring were covered by the time we began our week of staff training. It is amazing to see how those chosen people went and bore fruit, and I am sure it will be lasting fruit.

It is an incredible thing to see the result of your work. In youth ministry it often happens that a young pastor will burn out. Supposedly, the average term for a youth pastor in a church is about 18 months. In the summer camp ministry, many summer staffers work for a summer or two, or three, and then graduate from college and move on in life. They don’t get to see the full impact of their work. I have been blessed to see those children that I counseled for many years and worked alongside with as high school staff, become summer staff members. The cycle of growth is amazing. These rambunctious, fun (and sometimes challenging) kids actually do take some of what we say to heart. They internalize it. Their decisions are sometimes influenced by us as counselors and staff members. They reflect parts of us in their own personalities. They remember LWBC because of the people that God has placed in their lives for a week at a time. I hope the summer staff of 2016 realizes that the hard work they did has been life changing for some of these kids and youth. Praise God, we had many campers become followers of Jesus for the first time this summer, or re-dedicate their lives to Him. God had chosen them to do this work, and to bear fruit. Lasting fruit. And just as I have been blessed to see the cycle over the past 8 years, I hope they will see it as well.-Jon Becker